[5] Pocognoli made his Genk debut, where he came on as a substitute for Marco Ingrao in the second half, in a 1–0 win over Gent on 9 April 2004, which was his sole appearance that season.

[12] Three days later, Pocognoli signed a new contract with Genk, keeping him until 2008[13] and two months later, he signed another contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2011[6] Despite being sent–off for a second bookable offence against Sint-Truidense on 29 October 2006,[14] Pocognoli became a regular for the club during the 2006–07 season, making thirty–four appearances in all competition.

[3] At the end of the 2006–07 season, Pocognoli was nominated for the Young Player Footballer of the Year award, but lost out to Lucas Biglia.

[15] On 20 June 2007, Pocognoli left Genk to join Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar, signing a five–year contract with them.

[18] Pocognoli made his AZ Alkmaar debut, where he came on as a substitute in the second half, in a 4–0 win over VVV-Venlo in the opening game of the season.

[19] Pocognoli then scored his first goal for the club, in the UEFA Cup match, in a 1–0 win over Paços de Ferreira on 20 September 2007.

[20] Pocognoli scored his first league goal for the club on 9 December 2007, in a 2–1 win over Utrecht[21] and his second later came on 22 January 2008, in a 2–1 loss against NAC Breda.

[29] Despite this, he helped the club win the league for the first time since 1981 after title contender Ajax lost 6–2 to PSV Eindhoven on 18 April 2009.

[33] However, his first team opportunities was limited under the new management of Ronald Koeman, due to injury[34] and spent most of the first half of the season on the substitute bench.

[37] On 23 January 2010, Pocognoli was in a negotiation with a move to Belgian Pro League, signing for his former club Standard Liège.

On 22 January 2013, Pocognoli left Belgium when he moved to German club Hannover 96, signing a three–year contract, keeping him until 2016.

[60] Despite missing out, due to injuries,[61][62] Pocognoli finished the second half of the 2012–13 season, making eleven appearances in all competitions.

[81] Pocognoli finally made his first league appearance of the season, and set up Salomón Rondón to score the only goal, in a 1–0 win over Manchester United on 6 March 2016.

On 30 August 2016, Pocognoli joined Football League Championship club Brighton & Hove Albion on a season-long loan deal following an injury to first-choice left-back Liam Rosenior.

[83] Competing with Gaëtan Bong for the left–back spot,[84] Pocognoli made his Brighton & Hove Albion debut in a 0–0 draw against Ipswich Town on 27 September 2016, playing the full match.

[88] On 17 March 2018, he played as Standard Liege beat Genk 1–0 in extra time to win the 2018 Belgian Cup Final and qualify for the UEFA Europa League.

[92] While playing for the national team in 2009, Pocognoli was involved in a dressing room altercation with teammates Timmy Simons and Stijn Stijnen.